A report from news agency Reuters says the European commission has announced that it wants broadband penetration within the EU to reach 30% by 2010 in order to drive economic growth.

The EU’s information society commissioner Viviane Reding said that only eight of the 27 EU member countries are currently in competition with the US in terms of broadband penetration rates, with Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands at the helm.

Despite the fact that the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg and France also have a higher broadband penetration ratios than the US, the EU is only at 20%, compared to the 22.1% rate set by America.

Reding said that the new proposals, which would come into force in April 2009 could help the EU overtake the levels of American usage, and subsequently boost competition in the retail sector and support new businesses in remote areas.

Source: Telappliant

Share This